Geography of the British Isles and the Northern Europe (History- Night Shift)

Geography of the British Isles and Northern Europe

THE NORTH SEA

In many ways the North Sea is one of the most important seas in the world. Although it is not an enclosed sea in the same way that the Mediterranean, The Red Sea and the Baltic Sea are enclosed, it has only two entrances. The one, and by far the most used, is through the Strait of Dover, only 20 miles wide. The other is between Scotland and Norway, and there the Shetland Isles lie almost half-way across. Even if England and Scotland are counted like one, no fewer than eight countries lie around the shores of the North Sea – Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Britain.

The North Sea is also a great highway. Ships from the Baltic or from Germany and Holland bound for the Atlantic, have to turn either to the south or to the north to avoid the British Isles, which thus guard the entrance to Northern Europe. This was of great importance during the two World Wars.

Britain´s history has been closely connected with the sea., Until modern times it was as easy to travel across water as it was across land (but roads were frequently unusable), and at moments of great danger, Britain has been saved from danger by its surroundings seas. Britain´s history and its strong national sense have been shaped by the sea

Physical features

Although of not great area the British Isles are full of contrasting scenes and variation of land-use, so packed with evidence of centuries of history of man, that there is no monotony in any day´s journey through the landscape.

It is noteworthy that the rocks of the Highlands of Scotland are similar to those of the Highlands of Norway, that the low-lying Fens are opposite the polders of Holland and that the chalk cliffs of Dove face the chalk cliffs of Calais. Facts such as these suggest that Britain was formerly joined to Europe and, indeed, it was not long ago in the geological past that the sea broke through the Strait of Dover and made Britain an island.

If the physical map is compared with the geological map it will be found that nearly all the north and west consist of old rocks, while the south and east consist of younger rocks. It is possible to divide the island of Great Britain – that is England, Wales, and Scotland into tow parts, Highland Britain and Lowland Britain. This division has been important in England history and it is at present.

The mountainous west and north of Britain became a refuge of those early settlers who were driven from the rich earth and mature forests of the southern and eastern plains by the sea-faring nomads from Eastern Europe.On the other hand, the plain and fertile south has always concentrated most of the population of Britain since ancient times.

It is well known that climate makes character. The equable climate produced the equable British character, softer and most English in the warmer south, tougher in the cooler north, more tempestuous in the wild mountains of Wales. Thus, we can say that Britain was moulded into mood and shape by the physical limits of seas and mountains.

Most of the areas of highland are in the north and west and except for the Irish Plain and Scottish Lowlands, the largest stretches of lowlands are in the south and east. Lowland Britain is the best area for agriculture and it has always been settled and farmed.

The geography of Ireland describes an island in northwest Europe in the north Atlantic Ocean. The main geographical features of Ireland include low central plains surrounded by a ring of coastal mountains.

In the Stone and Bronze Ages, Ireland was inhabited by Picts in the north and a people called the Erainn in the south, the same stock, apparently, as in all the isles before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. About the 4th century B.C., tall, red-haired Celts arrived from Gaul or Galicia. They subdued and assimilated the inhabitants and established a Gaelic civilization. By the beginning of the Christian Era, Ireland was divided into five kingdoms—Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Meath, and Munster. Saint Patrick introduced Christianity in 432, and the country developed into a center of Gaelic and Latin learning.